Ontario Highway 28

Highway 28 north of its southern terminus at Highway 7

Highway 28 begins at an intersection with Highway 7 approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) east of Peterborough. The road that carries Highway 28 continues south as Peterborough County Road 34 (Heritage Line). Proceeding north, Highway 28 crosses the Peterborough Drumlin Field, an area dominated by undulating terrain oriented in a southwest–northeast direction. Despite this, the highway progresses due north without regard for the terrain; numerous cuts and fills have since flattened the route for easier travel. Passing east of Lakefield, the straight path of the route is interrupted by the Otonabee River; it curves northeast and intersects Peterborough County Road 29 (Queen Street) and Road 6 while travelling south of the river. At Young's Point, the southern tip of Stony Lake, the highway crosses the river and serves cottages along the western shore of the lake. Approximately 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of Burleigh Falls, the route descends a hill and enters the Canadian Shield; south of this point, the terrain is underlain by limestone and covered by deciduous forests, whereas north of it the terrain is dominated by exposed granite bedrock and coniferous forests.[2]

The north-eastern end of Highway 28 in Denbigh

Within Burleigh Falls, Highway 28 encounters the eastern terminus of the former Highway 36. From there it continues northeast through the rugged shield to Highway 118, at which point it has curved fully to the east. The highway passes through Bancroft, where it encounters Highway 62. East of Bancroft, there is relatively little human inhabitation, with the exception of a select group of communities located on or nearby the highway. At the community of Denbigh, Highway 28 ends at a junction with Highway 41.[2]

Highway 28 was assigned in 1928, when the entirety of Highway 12A was renumbered. Highway 12A was one of the original provincial highways assumed in 1919 and 1920.[3] The Port Hope – Peterborough Road was assumed by the Department of Highways on August 11, 1920, extending from Highway 2 (Walton Street) in Port Hope to Highway 7 (George Street North) in downtown Peterborough.[4] The route received the 12A numbering during the summer of 1925.[5]

Highway 28 east of McArthur Mills

During the mid-1930s, Highway 28 was extended as far north as Apsley. This was accomplished by assuming existing Peterborough County roads along the Otonabee River as far as Burleigh Falls, via Lakefield. North of there, the department assumed the Burleigh Falls Road. Highway 28 was extended from Peterborough to Burleigh Falls on April 4, 1934.[6] The Burleigh Falls Road was assumed to Apsley on August 11, 1937.[7]

During the 1936 fiscal year, preparations were made for the upcoming merger of the Department of Northern Development and Department of Highway, which occurred on April 1, 1937.[8] The town of Bancroft was chosen as the location of the first operations centre for the new Central District of the department. Consequently, it was decided to extend Highway 28 to the town along the remainder of the Burleigh Falls Road.[9]

Plans to connect Ottawa with Bancroft arose in the mid-1950s. When the province designated Highway 132 in January 1956, they also announced plans for a new highway which would travel south from Renfrew to Calabogie, then turn west towards Denbigh and Bancroft. Ultimately this road was never constructed, but new road links were established in the following years regardless.[10] In early 1956, Highway 500 was established between Kinmount and Hermon following the Monck Road.[11][12] In 1963, a new road was constructed between McArthur Mills and Denbigh through the Madawaska Highlands, and opened as an extension of Highway 500 on July 1.[13] During the early 1980s, Highway 500 was renumbered as an extension of Highway 28. This took place between 1980 and 1982.[14][15]

During the 1997 and 1998 mass downloading of highways, the southern 63 kilometres (39 mi) of Highway 28 were transferred to the counties of Peterborough and Northumberland, the town of Port Hope and Lakefield and the city of Peterborough. The section from Highway 115 north to Lakefield was decommissioned on April 1, 1997.[16] On January 1, 1998, the southernmost section, between Highway 2 and Highway 115, was transferred.[17] During the spring of 2003, the entirety of Highway 134 was redesignated as part of Highway 28, extending the southern terminus to Highway 7 east of Peterborough.[2][18]

The following table lists the major junctions along Highway 28, as noted by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.[1][2] 

Division	Location	km[1][2]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Peterborough	Otonabee – South Monaghan	0.0	0.0	Highway 7 – Peterborough, Ottawa	Trans-Canada Highway
	Five Corners	6.2	3.9	County Road 4 – Warsaw
	Douro–Dummer	15.3	9.5	County Road 29 (Queen Street) – Lakefield	End of former Highway 134
		16.3	10.1	County Road 6 (Stony Lake Road) – Nephton
	Young's Point	21.1	13.1	County Road 20 (Young's Point Road) – Douro
	Burleigh Falls	31.0	19.3	County Road 36 – Buckhorn, Bobcaygeon
	Apsley	57.9	36.0	County Road 504 (Burleigh Street) – Lasswade
		59.2	36.8	County Road 620A (Burleigh Street) – Apsley
Haliburton	Dyno Estates	77.7	48.3	County Road 48 (Dyno Mines Road) – Cheddar
Hastings	Paudash	89.5	55.6	Highway 118 west – Haliburton, Bracebridge
	Bancroft	99.6	61.9		Bancroft town limits; beginning of Connecting Link agreement
				Highway 62 (Hastings Road) – Madoc, Maynooth
		103.1	64.1		Bancroft town limits; end of Connecting Link agreement
	Carlow/Mayo	123.3	76.6	Bessemer Road – Hermon, Bessemer
	McArthur Mills	127.9	79.5	Little Mississippi River Bridge
Renfrew	Hardwood Lake	144.0	89.5	County Road 514 – Schutt
Lennox and Addington	Addington Highlands	162.6	101.0	Highway 41 – Pembroke, Eganville
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

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